Air-brake coupling.



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ratente iemte; 22, 190s.

PATENT OFFICE.

AIR-BRAKE COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 747,817, dated December 22, 1903.

Application filed June 23,1903. serrano. 162,703. (Nmodei.)

To a/ZZ whom, it may con/cern: A

Beit known that we, RUDOLPH W. WILKE, residing at Auburn Park, and MATHIAS BAUER, residing at South Englewood, in the county of Cook, State of Illinois, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air-Brake Couplings; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe Io invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.'

Our invention relates to a novel Vconstruction in an air-brake coupling, the object being' to provide a device of this character which almost completely shuts of the escape of air in case the train parts, so as to retain the forward end of the train under control of theengineer and lcause the brakes on the rear end zo to set with sufficient rapidity to prevent collision with the forward end, but not to bring said rear end to a sudden stop; and it consists in the features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating our invention, Figure l is a central longitudinal section of a coupling constructed in accoidance with our invention. Fig. 2 is a plan 3o view of the valve-seat employed.

Referring now to said drawings, A indicates the casing of a coupling member of the Westinghouse type, which is connected by means of the stem B with the air-brake system ofthecarandcommunicatesthroughtheopening O with a similaicoupling member of the adjacent car, tender, or locomotive. Seated around said opening C is a rubber gasket D, which is provided with au annular ange E,

4,0 passing through said opening C and projecting from the member A. Bearing upon said rubber gasket D is a metal gasket F, (which simultaneously forms a valve-seat,) which is provided with an annular flange G, projecting into the central opening in the gasket D and which serves to hold said gasket F in proper relative position. The opposite wall of said casing A is provided with a Iscrew-threaded opening H, concentric with said opening C, 5o and reoeives'athreaded cap I, provided with a polygonal head J to receive a wrench. The

said cap is provided with a plurality of Iingers or projections K, which bear upon the gasket F and serve to compress the latter upon said'gasket D. In the inner face of said 55 cap I is a central cylindrical chamber L, which receives the stem of a valve M, which seats uponthe valve-seat N of the gasket F and is normally held upon its seat by means of the spiral spring O, surrounding said valve-stem 6o and bearing at its ends upon the inner face of said cap and upon said valve, respectively.

At itsother end said valve M is provided with a central projection or stem P of smaller diameter than the opening in said gasket F and 65 which is provided with an enlarged head Q, also of smaller'diameter than said openingin said gasket F, the outer projecting 'face of said head Q being dat and having rounded edges, so that in coupling the heads Q when 7o brought in contact will readily mount each other, .thereby forcing both valves from their seats and maintaining free communication between the two coupling'members.

When coupled, the two members A, which are exactly alike, are relatively turned on the axes of the valves M as a center approximately, and are thus interlockedv and forced together by the cam-flanges R and S until the flanges E of the gasketsD are compressed 8o against each other to form an air-tight joint between the couplers. To facilitate this action, the heads Q are formed as above de-` scribed, so that it is not necessary to exactly relatively center the coupling members before turning same,l while their large diameter and rounded edges also serve to prevent either head from entering the annular space between the other head and the inner face of the gasket D, and thereby preventing the 9o members A from readily parting and causing damage to one or other of the coupling members or the flexible tubes connecting Y same with the air-brake system; but when the train parts said heads will slip very readily without catching, and the valve M will immediately shut off the escape of air and prevent sudden stopping of both sections of the train. If the'escape of air is entirely shutoff, however, the engineer would remain roo in ignorance of the accident andthe rear section would roll freely by impetus and iu case of slowing up of the forward section would collide with the latter. To prevent this, We provide in the valve-seat N of each coupling member a groove T, which admits of the slow escape of air from both sections of the train. This will canse the rear section to come to a standstill very shortly by causing the brakes to set, while the air-compressor would be set to working with great rapidity by reason of the leak, thus signalingr the engineer, withont, however, causing the forward section to be taken from the control of the engineer. In this manner collision of the two sections is prevented. It is also essential that the airescape opening be kept free of dirt and other clogging matter, and to this end We find it advantageous toplace same in the valve-seat, when the blow of the valve will continually serve to loosen and throw out such matter.

Our invention is very simple and efficient and can be readily applied without removing the coupling members from the cars.

We claim as our invention- An air-brake coupling comprising a casing having an air-outlet, a flexible gasket seated around said opening Within said casing and having an annular flange projecting therefrom, a metal gasket seated on said flexible gasket, an annular flange on said metal gasket entering the opening in said flexible gasket to hold said metal gasket centered ,a chamfered valve-seat in said metal gasket, an air escape groove in said valve-seat, a removable cap mounted in the opposite wall of the coupling, projections on said cap hearingupon said metal gasket to hold sa me compressed on said flexible gasket, a central cylindrical chamber in said cap, a valve controlling the air-outlet and having a stem entering said chamber in said cap, a spring interposed between said cap and said valve for normally holding the latter on its seat, a projection at the other end of said valve projecting through the airoutlet, au enlarged head on said projection of smaller diameter than the air-outlet and a flat end and rounded edges on said head, said head projecting only slightly beyond the free end of the flange of the liexible washer and serving asa cam to loe engaged by a similar head on the other coupling member when coupled therewith to open said valve, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we aiiix our signatures in presence ot' two witnesses.

RUDOLPH XV. WILKE. MATHIAS BAUER.

Witnesses:

RUDOLPH WM. Lo'rz, E. F. WILSON. 

